What Is a Website, Really?

It’s not a single webpage (most of the time), nor is it only your homepage, but rather a collection of webpages.

Think of webpages as individual pages in a book.

Similar content is consolidated on a single webpage, segregating it from other content. This enables a webpage to focus on one issue, subject or theme.

Please note: When referring to a “website”, we are referring to ALL of the individual webpages that comprise it and are associated with a specific domain name.

Webpage Organization

Webpages are tied together, or interconnected, through a menu navigation system and other internal links. Think of the menu navigation like the table of contents (or index) in a book.

Every website has a unique “domain name”.

The domain name for this website is Bizeeo.com.

Think of a domain name like you would the title of a book, it uniquely identifies all of the webpages associated with it. When a website visitor enters your domain name in the web address bar of a browser, they are said to have “landed” on your homepage (more on “landing” in a moment).

Your homepage is simply one of many of the webpages that comprise your website.

The homepage typically receives the most attention and scrutiny by website designers and website visitors alike. It has traditionally been considered the introduction or doorway to all of your website content, but that is now considered a short-sighted view that can harm the overall performance of your website.

How People and Search Engines Interact

Rather than type in domain names, most people use search engines when looking for information, or websites, when surfing the web.

Google and other search engines understand the “intent” of your website (e.g. products, services, message) by examining, or “crawling”, the content of your website.

Google then stores, or “indexes” this information for later retrieval. When a web searcher performs a keyword search, the most relevant results, or webpages, are displayed on the SERP in response.

Important note: Google crawls not only your homepage, but ALL of the web pages that are linked from the homepage, and indexes them accordingly. The results listed on a SERP may or may not link directly to your homepage. Many times, they link to internal webpages on a website because they are considered more relevant for a specific keyword search.

When designing and structuring your website, here are the key points to remember:

It is unreasonable, if not impossible, for your homepage to rank well for all of the keywords (e.g. products and services) important to your business website.

Consolidate similar content, and segregate dissimilar content when you design each webpage. This will enable you to devote the focus (or theme) of each webpage to a specific topic. In turn, this improves the opportunity for THAT WEBPAGE to rank well in the SERP.

Every webpage should be properly optimized for the search engines, or it may be ignored and not listed in the SERP.

A website visitor still needs to understand the overall intent of your website no matter where they “land”.

A website visitor should be provided quick and easy access to other content on your website via menu navigation or other links no matter where they “land”.

Your company branding should be obvious no matter where a website visitor “lands”.

Website Architecture

A good website design takes into account every webpage and how each can potentially rank well in the SERP.

A reputable Web Design Service Provider should consider this a critical part of the layout and design process for your website, or website architecture.

A basic understanding of these concepts will provide you with a distinct advantage when planning and developing your next website.

Failure to do so can relegate your website to the status of a high-priced business card hidden in a fishbowl full of competition.